Whew! So we got those first few boards pulled but then lost momentum due to parenting.
We, of course, had high hopes for the weekend. On Friday Danny and I spent some time at Jerry's getting prices and shopping lists. Fast forward to Saturday morning. I take the girls to Bounce while Danny stays home to work at demo'ing the deck. We get home to find about 3 boards and 1/2 the frame left. Danny was a rockstar and rewarded himself by sharing a popsicle with Maya! 
We quickly realized that needed a truck (and soon). We had lots of debris and wood scraps filled with nails to get rid of before we could let Maya out to play. We also realized that we needed help. Danny called John and Elaine who jumped in their cars and headed down here to help. By the end of the day the truck was loaded with the old deck and ready to go to the recycle pile. It took a high-five from Fin as a final incentive!
Sunday morning the Thomases bring donuts and we go over our plans over breakfast. Danny and I run off to dispose of the old deck and get a yard and a half of gravel to level out the ground under the deck. Let me say that it was a lot of rock to shovel, load and dump!
We needed to get the truck back by 5:30 so we had to kick it up a notch and run off to Jerry's to get our supplies.8 deck blocks
2 2x6x8
13 2x6x12
42 2x4x8
42 2x4x12
18 joist hangers
60lb bag of concrete
10lb of stainless steel screws
some flashing
a few lag bolts
and some Starbursts
Picking, loading and unloading the lumber was fun. (Read the sarcasm.) It feels great to know that we have the supplies at our house now we just have to find the time and energy! :)
We have a lot of work to "start"...but we'll get there (eventually).
